Basket



Dec. 30, 1930. E. v. HAwKlNs BASKET Filed March 18, 1929 TTTLCy.

. .4- bodylng my. invention;

Pate-nado. 3c, i930 *UNITED s-'m'rafs/` PATENT oFF-,ICE

' ERNEST V. HAWKINS, OF MITCHELL, INDIANA BASKET application mediteren 1s, 192s. semi so. s473259.

My invention relates to -baskets or-con- .l l tainers of the type used 'for' packing and shipping fruit, vegetables and the like, and has reference more particularly to handle type 5 fasteners, whereby the cover is4 secured 1n place on the basket. y In baskets of the above character, it is a ycommon practice to employ wire s handles which are attached to the rim of the basket fm at opposite sides and the basketcover has a slat with rejecting ends which are engaged with the andles 4to hold the cover in place. When the cover is applied, the basket handle is pushed outwardly to engageover the end of the slat and this Ibends the wire to such an y extent that upon straightenmg up thebasket handle, the parts thereof at the inner side of the basket rim,'swin inwardly and alford projections which otentimes puncture or otherwise injure the contents of the basket. With my invention'the cover is applied in -A the -same manner but the parts at thev inner side .of the-,basketjrim are effectively locked againstany displacement whichl'might injure the contents of the basket.

- The principal objects of my invention are to provide an improved wire handle for use Y 1n carrylnlandotherwise handling the basket and w 'ch may also serve for attaching V a cover toa basket or the like to avoid into the contents of the basket by the handle orcover fastener; to lock the handles A tmore securely in' place on the basket; and in' vgeneral to provide a' simple andpinexpensive cover fastener or handle consta;uction which 'j avoids diiiiculties experienced with j cover 'fasteners heretofore;Y

' On the drawing: ...I

' 1 is'a spective vi Fi 2 is an enlar edV fragmentaryview 'of the e'dge ofte basket showing an exterior viewof my :improved handle, andA Fig.f3is an enlarged sectional view taken 25 -substantiallyon the line 3--3'of Fig. 2, and

sho apoi-ton ofthe basket cover. Rage for' the purpose of illustration a basket of a. commonform having side walls of staves 1,

:52 the upper ends of which ar @Dggd betWn ew of. a basket em-- basket;l thereby to prevent the freeend por- 90 rring to the drawings, I have shown inner and outer hoops 2 and 3 respectively. A pair of handles 4 are secured at diametri# cally opposite places to the rim of the basket and these-.handles serve additionallyjto hold the basket cover in place. The basket cover 55 1s usually made of a hoop 5 to the upper edge of which Iare secured a number of crossed -slats 6, one of which indicated at 7 has the ends extended beyond the hoop 5 to engage with the handles 4 for holding the cover 1n 60 plage'. In attachingthe basket cover, one of the projecting ends of the slat 7 is .engaged with -one of the handles.4, whereupon the other handle 4 must be swung outwardly a con- 65 siderable distance to engage over the end of the slat 7. With handles of previous construction this not only loosened up the connection of the handle with the basket but bent the wire to such an extent that when I the handle was straightened up, the portionsv at the innerv side ofthe basket rim swung in wardly and afforded projections which oftentmes damaged the contents of the basket.

In my construction, the legs 8 of the han- 75 dle extend downwardly along the outer side of the outer hoop 3, ,then vinwardly through the hoops 2 and 3 'preferably'at a suicient distance above the lower edges thereof as in present handles to afford a secure anchorso age for the handles. The wire is'then bent upwardly as at`9 against the innerv side .of the g vhoop 2 and terminates in a p Y rtion 10 which extends across the tops of t e hoops 2 and 3 and terminates in a portion 11 whichvis bent 86 downwardlyJ against theouter side 'of the n Y \hoop 3 and clamped thereagainsto as to secure and anchor m place the free ends'of the, legs of the handle at' the exterior Vof the the handles. Thus each of the legs 8 has a closed loop engaging the basket rim with the ortion 9 at the lnnery side of the basket rim y ocked at each end against separation therefrom. With this construction, when the basket handle 4 is bent outwardly to engage over the projecting end ofthe slat 7 the portions 9, 10 and 11 remain securely engaged with the basket rim and when the handle 4 is straightened up after engagement with the end of the slat 7 there is no displacement of the inner portion 9 from the basket rim and consequently no projecting portions result which will injure the contents of the basket. In -plrevious handle structures however, whi did not have the portion 11 or the portions 10 and 11 the outward bending of the handle loosened up the connection of the handle with the basket, the hooped upper edge structure being somewhat yieldable in this respect, and the arms 8 assumed an angle to the vportions 9 so that when the handle was straightened u the inside portions 9 (without 10 and 11 would swing inwardly and puncture or damage any adjoining articles such as indicated at 12 in Fig. 3 ofthe drawaddition to the improved result of avoiding injury tothe contents of the basket, this handle has the further advantage of holding the cover more -securely in. place against accidental displacement. It is a common practice to employ what is known as a bulge pack, the basket being filled overly full and the cover sprung into place so that it has an arched form and is under tension when attached to the basket. This gives to the slat 7 a correspondingly arched form and if the handles have-been loosened in applying the cover, as'they usually were with previous handles, they would frequently become accidentally disengaged from the ends of the slat 7. With my construction however there is no loosening up of the attachment of the handle to the rim of the basket when the handle is swung outwardly and engaged over the end of the slat 7 but when the handle is bent back, it is held in the upright position b the stiffness of the metal which serves to ho d the handles against disengagement from the' projecting ends of the slat 7. As above indicated, it is customary toV utilize the basket handles for engaging the ends of the basket slat and I have shown and described my invention accordingly. While I have shown and described my invention in a preferred `jform-I am aware that various changes and vmodifications may be made'without'departing from the principles jf ymy invention, the scopevof which is to be determined by the zalppended claims. I claim as my invention: 1.v A shipping basket provided withan inverted substantially U-shaped -wire handle above' the top edge of thev basket, the

\ stantially U-shaped wire lop leg members of the handle extendingdownwardly along the outer side of the basket body and thenceinwardly through the wall of the basket body, thence upwardly along the inner side of the basket wall, thence outwardly across the top edge of the basket wall, and thence downwardly along the outer side 'of the basket body, whereby the wire leg portions on the interior -of the basket are held in position and prevented from becoming displaced and projected away from the to the injury of the contents of the basket as the result of the manipulations to which the handle is subject in the handling of the basket by the use of the handle.

2. A shipping basket, comprising a basket body, a cover therefor having horizontal fastening elements projecting a distance beyond the periphery of the cover, and combined handles and cover-fasteners secured upon the exterior of the basket body, each handle and cover-fastener having an inverted substantially U-shaped wire loop rising above' connected to the leg ,basket wall and into the interior of the basket side of the wall o t e basket to prevent said inner leg portions from becoming displaced and projected away from the basket wall and into the interior of the basket to the injury of the contents of the basket as the result of the manipulations to which the combined handles and cover-fasteners are subject in the handling of the basket by the use of the handles and in the engagement of the projecting ends of the fastening elements on the cover with the loops of the handles.

3. A shipping basket, comprising a basket body, a cover vtherefor having horizontal fastning elements projecting a distance beyond t e han es and cover-fasteners secured upon the exterior of the basket body, each handle and-cover-fastener having an inverted subrising above the top of the basket and em jecting ortion of one of the fastening elements ci) the cover, `the legs of the wire4 loop extending downwardly along the outer 'side of the basket body and free to be bent butwardly therefrom, and said le inwardly through the wall of the asket body, thence along the inner side of the basket body, thence outwardly across the top edge of the basket body between the body and the cover,

djeriphery of the cover, and combined 1 racing the pro-- extending and thence downwardly along the outer side of the basket body,` whereby the wire leg portions on the interior of the basket are eld in positionv and prevented from becoming displacedy and projected awa from the basket wall and into the interior o the basket to the injury of the contents of the basket as the result of thev manipulations to which the combined handles and cover-fasteners are subject in the handling of the basket by the use of the handles and in the engagement of the projecting ends of the fastening ele ments `on the cover with the loops of the handles. r 4. Ashipping basket provided with an-inverted substantially Ulshaped Wire handle rising above the top ed e of the basket,vthe leg members of the han le extending downwardly along the outer side of the basket body and free to be bent outwardl therefrom, and said leg members' exten ing inl wardly through the side wall of the basket body and havin portions of the leg members bent to lie aongside of the interlor wall of the basket body, and means lying against the exteriorof the basket body and connected with the leg portions on the interior of the basket for securing said inner leg portions against the inner wall of the basket and pre- "venting thin from becoming displaced and rojected away from the basket Wall and into the interior of the basket to the in'ury of the contents thereof as the result ofit e manipulations to which the handle is subject in the handling of the basket by the use of the handle. ERNEST V. HAWKINS. 

